New Hamilton program helps Indigenous single moms get a diploma and 'build confidence'

A program being run by the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre (HRIC) is helping Indigenous women who are single mothers get a college diploma.

The Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound (UIHB) program was launched in 2018. Erika Corbiere, UIHB navigator, says the diploma is one of many benefits to participants. 

"This program … helps single Indigenous mothers build confidence in themselves to be able to go back to school and gain meaningful employment for the future, and that just really helps break the cycle of poverty for them and their families," Corbiere told CBC Hamilton. 

Corbiere says the four-year program helps the women build their life skills, and it also includes computer and financial literacy training. 

"In the first phase of the program, we really focus on stabilizing the ladies, so that in the next phases they're able to focus on their studies," she said. 

"In the first phase we help them secure housing if they don't already have it … helping them find listings, and going to viewings with them. We offer a rent subsidy for them, we help them secure childcare and all the other cultural support and life skills [they need]."

The UIHB program is offered through Mohawk College, which provides participants with free tuition and books.

Corbiere says the program is celebrating its newest graduate — Serenity Ashton.

Ashton was born and raised on Nipissing First Nations in northern Ontario and lived in London, Ont., for 13 years before moving to Hamilton in 2019.

"She came to Hamilton looking for support and she wasn't necessarily looking to go back to school, but she [saw] our flyer [and] joined the program," Corbiere said.

"She persevered, she started college just when COVID had started, and just to see her be so successful in her program with the grades she got … the transformation is amazing.

"I just really can't wait to see what she does when she's finished with her post-secondary education, because I know she's going to do amazing work and change people's lives," Corbiere said.

Ashton says that as a single mother of a child with complex disorders, she moved to Hamilton not to study, but for her son.

"Little did I know that … I would be opening the doors to getting more education," Ashton told CBC Hamilton.